Oral cavity suction devices, also known as saliva ejectors are narrow vacuum tubes that dental health professionals employ for removing saliva, water, and debris during a dental procedure. Often saliva ejectors will “sit” in a patient's mouth during a dental procedure in order to continuously rid the mouth of excess saliva, water, and debris to facilitate uninterrupted work by the dental health professional. The ejector tubes are typically made of a pliable plastic with a metal wire embedded within its wall to allow the tube to be bent to a desired angle and maintain that angle. If the tip of the suction tube contacts the patient's mouth tissue, it can suck the tissue into contact with the tip of the ejector, thereby rendering the ejector useless, since it is no longer removing excess saliva, water, and debris, not to mention causing a very uncomfortable sensation for the patient. Due to this fact the dentist preforming the work on the patient must be assisted at all times.
Further, most dental saliva ejection devices are replaceable, disposable polymer straws with an angled distal end that has its proximal end connectable to a 5/32″ internal diameter tube suction tube, which is coupled to a vacuum pump. These devices must be manually entered into the patient's mouth periodically. Cross contamination is possible, separated only by the length of straw used. Additionally, the tubing must run inconveniently, between the patient and the dentist/dental assistant.
A disposable, cost effective, comfortable, and efficient saliva ejector system, reusable parts of which can be sanitized between patients for reuse and that that can be managed in a patient's mouth without the need for a dental assistant, with a vacuum tubing routing that is out of the way of the dentist's/dental assistant's work space, would be a welcome addition to the dental industry. Such a system is provided by the embodiments set forth below.